1. Field of Art
The disclosure generally relates to the field of electronic maps, and specifically to visual display (or rendering).
2. Description of the Related Art
As the technologies of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) develop rapidly, electronic maps have been more and more widely used in various applications. Users use electronic maps to guide their trips. In addition, the electronic maps have become interactive, such as allowing users to zoom in or zoom out, sometimes by replacing one map with another of different scale, centered where possible on the same point. Furthermore, some electronic maps have route-planning functions and advice facilities by monitoring the user's position with the help of satellites.
However, current solutions for electronic maps only provide for display of one map at a time. This is inconvenient when users seek visual insight at one time on multiple maps corresponding to multiple locations. Accordingly, there is lacking a suite of methods for rendering multiple maps simultaneously in order to give users rich visual insight about multiple locations while allowing the users to conveniently interact with a real-time map.